How Moscow Nelly fell in love with life in Scarborough ...
A woman from Moscow who found a new home in Scarborough was featured on a Radio 4 show about the popularity of Britain among Russians.
In Russians in Britain: A Handbook, presenter Lucy Ash asked how they felt about relations between their adopted home and Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Among those responding was a woman who gave her name as Nelly Reece and who came to Scarborough thanks to a romance with her future husband whom she met in Moscow in the 1990s.
Office manager Nelly told the Radio 4 programme that she had wanted to live in Britain since she was a teenager. “Her home town is now Scarborough,” revealed the presenter, who said Russians first came in significant numbers following its Revolution of 1917.
Nelly told the programme: “I absolutely love it. I love North Yorkshire. The north of England is so beautiful. The nature is so raw and strong ... it could be raining in the morning and then totally changes in the afternoon. It’s bright, nice and crisp and the landscape gets into your memory.” She said: “The Russians and British have a lot in common, both used to be great empires, now not as large, and both have victorious pasts.”
Some Scarborough hotels employ Russian staff. The programme can be heard again on BBC iplayer. Are you Nelly Reece or are you a Russian living in Scarborough and would like to share your tale? Email newsdesk@jpress.co.uk